DESCRIPTION (taken from the application): The specific aim of this competitive renewal of our training program in Burns, Trauma and Critical Care is to develop physicians/scientist who are well grounded in physiology, molecular biology and molecular genetics; in addition this program is designed to teach interested individuals to develop hypothesis based research plans, enabling the trainees to transfer developments in new information from bench research to the clinical arena, leading to the development of novel and innovative therapeutic strategies in trauma and critical care. This training program is devoted to two years research training, and candidates for the training program must have an M.D. or Ph.D. degree from an accredited medical or graduate school, only United States citizens or permanent residents are eligible. A two-year research commitment is required, and M.D. trainees are expected to have completed at least three years of post-doctoral training prior to beginning the fellowship. To achieve an understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying organ failure in trauma and sepsis, trainees are placed in laboratories under the direction of scientific preceptor where state-of-the-art scientific methods are available and preceptors are committed to the training of physician/scientists. The academic resources of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Graduate School as well as the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have produced an exciting cadre of outstanding scientific preceptors for this training program. Individuals selected for participation as potential preceptors are nationally/internationally recognized scientists who have a long-term history of collaboration with investigators in the Department of Surgery and in the Divisions of Pediatric Critical Care. The inclusion of faculty from numerous departments across campus has produced a diverse program, allowing trainees to pursue studies in molecular biology/gene therapeutics, cytokine/mediator biology, neurobiology, tissue engineering/repairs/biomaterials, applied cardiopulmonary and microvascular physiology. The diversity of research areas that revolve around injury and inflammatory responses available to potential trainees should enable candidates to examine pathophysiologic mechanisms of trauma, burns and critical care leading to clinical innovations that will ultimately improve outcome of critically ill patients.